How much do you spend on groceries?

Hwrd2be · April 2010

Eating healthy is very expensive. I have tried to get things on sale but even on sale it is super expensive to eat healthy. I am curious What stores do you ussually shop at and how much do you spend a week on groceries? I know this will vary because of location but just curious.

sparklingdiamond · April 2010

There are two of us in the household (me and my FI) and we spend about 60-75 a week (not including things like laundry soap and other extras).

Julz629 · April 2010

I just shop at regular stores (Kroger, Meijer, Target), but I am a big coupon and sale shopper so I will go to multiple stores based on whats on sale if needed. When I moved in with FI last summer, I took over the grocery shopping responsibilities. After about 6 months, I looked at the total amount spent and I think it averages about $300-350 a month for the two of us. We both take our lunches to work every day and we make most of our meals at home (we might go out to dinner 3 times a month) so for us, this is most of our food expenses.

jennabob · April 2010

we average about $150/week. We are both eating super healthy so tons of fruits/veggies/etc. We have started going to a local fruit market for all our produce...it really is alot cheaper and alot fresher even if it means making an addtl stop. We also have a bakery outlet (sounds weird but it is acutally alittle store right at the manufacturing plant) in town where we get all of our wholegrain breads etc. Basically all we buy at the grocery store are our salad dressings, soy milk, yogurt, eggs. Its a pain, but going to all the individual stores really makes a difference.

Nebb · April 2010

We spend 240$/month on groceries, and this is split up between buying meat in bulk for the freezer, weekly trips to the market, and regular groceries. We go to costco twice a month for meat, bread and bagles and lunch snackables for my husband and bulk eggwhites and milk for myself and some bulk veggies we eat a lot. Then we go to my favourite local grocery store and market for everything else.

jennabob · April 2010

oh yeah I buy all my meat/poultry at a local butcher shop......saves us TONS

LittleKatie13 · April 2010

I guess FI and I eat expensive food! I spend about $450 each month on groceries. I'll admit that I'm not much of a coupon or sale shopper. I used to be, but just haven't been lately. I didn't include my Target bills because those are mostly soap, clothes, prescriptions etc, but there's some food on there too. We also eat out at least once each week and I take my lunch to work everyday, but FI doesn't.

mynameskatie · April 2010

We buy a lot of our other essentials at the grocery too but for just groceries probably about 75/wk. We do sale shop and we'll go to multiple places if they have a really good deal on something we eat. Most of the time if there is a super sale on something the rest of their items will be regular priced. We'll go and pick up the item on super sale and then shop somewhere else for the rest.

ETA: It is just the two of us in our household. Also, my FI is not the healthiest eater so some of that money goes towards doritos.

maria1012 · April 2010

I shop mainly at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, but get my meat from Costco and freeze it. All in all, probably $220-$250 a month and we only eat out on Friday nights.

FI and I both get free (and organic/healthy) lunches are our jobs, so we save a lot of money right there. He also eats breakfast and dinner at work too. Long hours, so they have to feed him.

LittleKatie13 · April 2010

oh and I shop at Trader Joe's and Pick 'n Save.

noelle24 · April 2010

My roommate and I make meals together and split the bill. I'd say the average cost for two people for a week is $100-$150 at Stop N Shop. I always look to see what fruits and vegetables are on sale (lately it's been asparagus and broccoli here), and eat a lot of that. Another easy way to cut back on grocery bills is to eat more vegetarian meals in a week. Beans are super inexpensive.

Also, we signed up for a farmshare this summer. Basically, we paid $500 up front and we'll get a couple bags of vegetables each week from June through Oct. from a local farm. It's a HUGE amount of food, so we're splitting it 4 ways with a couple of our friends. I think it comes out to $20-$25/wk for a lot of fresh, locally grown produce. So it's a GREAT deal.

crnota · April 2010

We spend about $120/week. I feel like that is a lot, but it looks like we aren't the only ones.

Our routine is to go to Trader Joe's first...buy as much as we can there. Their prices are the best around, but they don't always have everything we need.

If we still need other things, we go to Ralph's or Vons (normal grocery stores).

I go to Whole Foods about once every 2 weeks just to pick up some things that I can't find anywhere else, or that I prefer from there- their pre-made whole wheat pizza crust, their stir fry sauce, a spicy olive oil that we like on pasta, my favorite kind of all-fruit popsicles, etc.

In a dream world, I would love to shop for ALL of my groceries at WF- but it's just too expensive for us.

In the summer, we get a lot of our produce at the local weekly farmer's market.

cac847 · April 2010

I spend $40-50 a week for the two of us. I buy most of what we need at Aldi, and get whatever they don't have there at Stop and Shop.

heidi1068 · April 2010

I shop at a coop (mostly organic and local food), have a weekly CSA delivery, and try to go to the farmers market. A typical month of groceries is $600 for 2 people, but that means that we eat a maximum of 2 meals out of the house per month. (We pack lunch every day.) Also, we spent $1,000 for a year's worth of local, grass-fed meat (1/16 of a cow, 1/8 of a pig, plus 10 chickens).

When I read the money saving tips in Real Simple, I feel bad. (The average family of four spends half as much on groceries as we do.) Until I remember that we eat much better than most of those people--both from a health and taste perspective.

raynes · April 2010

We're usually around $100-125 a week for the two of us, and my H eats enough for 2 or 3 people.

I do my shopping at a normal/nice grocery store. I could probably get away with spending less if I went to the cheap store, but I hate it there.

I'd like to start hitting up the farmers market. I think I'll make that my goal for May. I also want a Costco membership, but the H is resisting.

Hwrd2be · April 2010

So I guess ours isnt too bad. We spend $80-$120 a week for the two of us depending on if I need meat or if I have to buy extras like cat food/litter or dog food or what. I think I am gonna try shopping at a new local store or something. I guess this just seems like alot. I am sure I could shop around.

lobsterhug · April 2010

FI and I spend on average $60 a week on groceries at Stop and Shop, and that mostly just covers stuff for dinner, my lunch and breakfast since he eats on the go, and a couple of snacks. We also eat out on Fridays and often meet up with his parents or friends for a meal on the weekends.

To keep the grocery costs down, we buy a lot of generic. Stop and Shop has a good quality brand and they also offer a line of affordable organic products. For fresh produce and meats, we stick to whats on sale that week for the most part. Some things I'm willing to pay more for, like my favorite yogurt.

Nebb · April 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_getting-shape_much-spend-groceries?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:238Discussion:40631b3c-9518-4257-a05f-93f52a0bff97Post:04473406-d9b2-436b-af76-c606f4235670">Re: How much do you spend on groceries?</a>:
[QUOTE]We're usually around $100-125 a week for the two of us, and my H eats enough for 2 or 3 people. I do my shopping at a normal/nice grocery store. I could probably get away with spending less if I went to the cheap store, but I hate it there. I'd like to start hitting up the farmers market. I think I'll make that my goal for May. I also want a Costco membership, but the <strong>H is resisting.
</strong>Posted by raynes[/QUOTE]

I think your husband needs to see the light

number55 · April 2010

We spend at least $500 a month. Graham eats A LOT. He is 6 foot 3 and has the metabolism of a thirteen year old olympic gymnast. He literally eats every 2hours. We shot at Costco once a month and then at a regular grocery store the rest of the time. We just went on Sunday and we bought our 'slabs' of meat as I call them because I feel so silly buying that much meat when it is just the two of us...

texgal79 · April 2010

I know, ladies, I know - I have no problem with it, because I think all food purveyors (or business) have issues in general; it just depends on what your dealbreaker is. (Apparently for him it's taking away houses from low-income people for private development and government gain) I thought it was crazy when he told me about it, and plenty of people would argue that development increases quality of life, improves neighborhoods, etc. Believe me, I love me some Costco pizza, the crazy-cheap rotisserie chicken and those chocolate muffins. Not to mention just the good price on bulk stuff like olive oil. I still shopped there until we moved in together last month and we started sharing finances (before, I told him that I was poor and unless he was ready to share in my food costs, I wasn't giving it up.)
We didn't register at C&B for this reason, so I won't shop there or IKEA a lot, but I am not opposed to buying things I need and taking the tags off if I have to. : ) My theory is women have been hiding things from men for centuries for very good reasons and they are none the wiser for it.

heidi1068 · April 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_getting-shape_much-spend-groceries?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:238Discussion:40631b3c-9518-4257-a05f-93f52a0bff97Post:849795df-9cb4-433d-970a-6f3a5cab7c66">Re: How much do you spend on groceries?</a>:
[QUOTE]Costco is the best. I feel quasi-criminal about it but the only chicken I really use anymore is their rotisserie (sp?) chicken because it's huge and $5 with tax and everything. I can't buy 2 chicken breasts at WF for that! <strong>And after Food Inc, I realized that Whole Foods gets away with a lot when they call things "free range" or "organic".</strong> Posted by jenb1205[/QUOTE]

This is absolutely true, but what you are buying at Costco is worse (fyi, chickens shouldn't get that big). If you are concerned about the treatment of the animals or the quality of the food that results, you should source directly from local farms or a coop or butcher that knows the producer and can vouch for their handling of animals.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown · April 2010

All my produce (almost) comes from the local farmer's market. Also olive oil, eggs, and a few other things.

The rest of my stuff comes from Trader Joe's. Occassionally (maybe once a month) we'll go to Whole Foods, because they have a bigger variety, if I want specific things. Regular grocery stores seem gross to me now. There's HFCS lurking everywhere. And who knows what else. It's important to me to buy dairy without hormones or antibiotics, and I need to buy yogurt without geletin, etc. It's just easier to do it at TJs and Whole Foods.

We shop once a week and try to spend $125 per week for 2-3 people.

Edit: we don't buy meat, so I don't know how that factors in.

texgal79 · April 2010

Oh! And I also wanted to say I looked and looked for a CSA to enroll in last week, and they are already all totally booked in the DC area for the summer season! I am so pissed. One place told me they had a waiting list of 500 people. What?? Maybe I need to get into this new line of work.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown · April 2010

Jen, California has farmer's markets year-round! The produce changes a bit (peppers only in late summer and fall, peaches are best in early summer, asparagus is best in spring), but we have things like salad greens, avocados and certain fruits all year. January-March is a bit sparse. But we have 2 seasons for citrus - winter AND summer.

jenb1205 · April 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_getting-shape_much-spend-groceries?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:238Discussion:40631b3c-9518-4257-a05f-93f52a0bff97Post:a6191a99-c971-40d1-9f4c-a291f6b02e8a">Re: How much do you spend on groceries?</a>:
[QUOTE]Jen, California has farmer's markets year-round! The produce changes a bit (peppers only in late summer and fall, peaches are best in early summer, asparagus is best in spring), but we have things like salad greens, avocados and certain fruits all year. January-March is a bit sparse. But we have 2 seasons for citrus - winter AND summer.
Posted by msmerymac[/QUOTE]

I have GOT to get back to a warmer climate. The thing I miss the most about home (TX) is the summer farmstands on the side of the highway that sell peaches. There is seriously NOTHING that you can buy at the grocery store that tastes as good as something you buy from the people that grew it.

crnota · April 2010

I love our farmers market in LA- msmery is right, it's so nice to get fresh local produce all year round out here. Last summer I made some killer peach pies from the peaches we got there (not the healthiest way to eat fruit, I know...) and right now the strawberries are amazing!

gingerdunnrd · April 2010

I'm in the military, so I shop at the Commissary for the majority of my food, however, I also shop at Whole Foods, Publix and Wal-Mart. I am a huge sale/coupon shopper, and usually spend about $150-200 every two weeks for me and FI, but that also includes dog food, toiletries, cleaning supplies, etc. I'm starting to shop more at the local Farmer's Market, but are local market is very small and doesn't have a whole lot to offer...

How much do you spend on groceries?

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